Everything you need to know to catch 'em all in Pokémon GO

Kogan Agora 8 Plus review: Inexpensive but unexciting

The Kogan Agora 8 Plus isn't fancy or expensive, but it ultimately has little that really stands out, even in the budget space.

At its price point, the Kogan Agora is fair value, but it struggles to stand out in any real way, and as a result, it's worth considering your options at this price point.

The Good

Large display screen

Fair design

Fingerprint sensor

Dual SIM

The bad

Stuttering touch response

Poor battery life for such a large phone

Ordinary camera

Kogan came into the Australian market with low-priced TVs that promised the features that the established brands offered at a fraction of the price, thanks to dealing directly with numerous Chinese factories. Since that time, the company's expanded into everything from mobile phone services to travel, insurance and even groceries, as well as direct importation of a number of brand name headsets.

That's why Kogan is always part of our weekly bargain phone roundups, but it has also dabbled in its own branded Android handsets.

My reviewing experience of Kogan branded equipment has always seemed to fall into one of two buckets. Some Kogan electronic equipment has offered superb value for money, but about the same quantity has simply been cheap and rife with flaws. It's been something of a guessing game, in other words.

As such, I approached the Kogan Agora 8 Plus with a little trepidation, unsure which way it would fall. It's also worth noting that I only had the handset to test for five days, which is less time than I'd typically like to review a handset.

Design

Kogan's previous Agora phones have been exceptionally plain devices, relying as they no doubt do on whatever Kogan's current choice of Chinese manufacturer is producing at a given point in time. While many of those manufacturers opt for ordinary designs for low-cost phones, the Agora 8 Plus punches above its weight here, at least a little.

Measuring in at 155x77x9mm with a carrying weight of 173g, the Agora 8 Plus is large in the hand but not terribly heavy. You're looking at a footprint not that much shorter than the (much more expensive) Samsung Galaxy Note 8, although the Agora 8 Plus only features a 5.5 inch 1080p display with prominent bezels in that same size.

1080p is a fairly good inclusion at this price point, although default screen illumination is a little uneven, and the default colour profile is on the predictably eye-bleeding side of the scale, which is increasingly common across all smartphone handsets. The choice of a stellar cloud pattern as the default background does accentuate this.

The sides are ever so slightly rounded giving it a decent feel in the hand, and the mostly matte black finish, while not showy to speak of, also isn't too much of a fingerprint magnet.

The phone's controls largely run up the right hand side, including power and volume buttons, although it will take you a little while to avoid tapping the power button when you want to adjust the volume. There's a top-mounted headphone jack, bottom mounted USB-C connector for data and charging purposes, and a dual-SIM slot for either a micro and nano SIM, or micro SIM and microSD card expansion.

You're not going to fool anyone that you're packing a high-end phone with the Agora 8 Plus, but you're equally not going to entirely look like you're slumming it either.

Camera

The Kogan Agora 8 Plus is equipped with a single rear 13MP sensor and front 8MP selfie camera, which is well within expectations for a budget handset, without being particularly exceptional.

That same critique applies to the Kogan Agora 8 Plus camera, which is everything you'd expect of a low-cost mobile phone camera, and maybe a bit less. Launch speed is less than stellar, so don't expect to get that sudden surprise photo if it appears in front of you.

Focus speed is slow, as is response from the onscreen shutter button. There are always compromises with low-end handsets, and it's abundantly clear that the Kogan Agora 8 Plus is weak on the camera front.

With sufficient patience you can get passable shots, but you're just as likely to get blurry or badly exposed ones. Even against the budget competition, the Kogan Agora 8 Plus just doesn't stand up well on the camera front.

Here are some sample shots taken from the Kogan Agora 8 Plus:

Performance

The Agora 8 Plus runs a relatively clean install of Android 7.1 ("Nougat"), which is commendable if you like keeping things simple. It's running off a 1.5GHz Octa-Core MediaTek MT6750T SoC, a processor particularly beloved of low-cost Chinese OEMs.

The Kogan Agora 8 Plus pairs the MT6750T with 4GB of RAM, which at least gives it some scope for decent application performance, although you shouldn't expect miracles. Here's how it compares against a range of low-cost Android handsets using Geekbench 4's CPU test:

Handset

Geekbench 4 CPU Single-Core (higher is better)

Geekbench 4 CPU Multi-Core (higher is better)

Huawei GR5 2017

814

3398

Huawei Nova 2i

918

3331

Nokia 5

662

2833

Nokia 6

664

2832

Oppo A57

662

2810

Sony Xperia X

1122

2626

Moto G5

630

2605

Kogan Agora 8 Plus

653

2522

LG Q6

536

2005

Huawei Y5

679

1909

Motorola E4

552

1528

Nokia 3

552

1527

And here's how the Kogan Agora 8 Plus stacks up against its immediate competitors using 3DMark's Ice Storm Unlimited test:

Handset

3DMark Ice Storm Unlimited Result

Huawei GR5 2017

11859

Huawei Nova 2i

10308

Kogan Agora 8 Plus

9755

Moto G5

9532

Oppo A57

9516

Nokia 5

9483

Nokia 6

9435

LG Q6

7779

Huawei Y5

5921

Motorola E4

3686

Nokia 3

3676

The benchmarks do point to the Agora 8 Plus competing reasonably well within its class, but then there's the reality of using it for day to day use.

The MediaTek MT6750T is a low-cost processor and it shows, because the Agora 8 Plus very frequently pauses after an input command. It's not quite as frustrating as the very slow keyboard on Huawei's Y5, but it's close, and it's annoying.

All too often I'd find that keystrokes would appear a second or so after tapping them, and sometimes they simply wouldn't work at all, and I'd have to try again. There are indeed compromises to be expected in low-cost handsets, but this is more of a competitive field than it used to be, with so many mid-range handsets tumbling in price and specifically budget competitors to consider.

Battery life

The Agora 8 Plus might be running a low-cost processor, but the flipside of those approaches, especially on larger handsets, is that you can usually eke out quite a lot of battery life because you're simply not able to push the handset that hard.

The Agora 8 Plus is equipped with a 2950mAh battery, which isn't immense for a larger screened phone, but it's not titchy either. What is titchy, sadly, is its battery performance. Using Geekbench 3's battery test, here's how the Agora 8 Plus stacked up against its immediate competition:

Handset

Geekbench 3 Battery Test Duration

Geekbench 3 Battery Score

Huawei GR5 2017

11:33:50

6938

Huawei Nova 2i

9:37:10

5771

Motorola E4

9:26:10

3752

LG Q6

8:44:40

3498

Nokia 5

8:42:30

5044

Nokia 6

8:19:10

4833

Huawei Y5

8:00:10

4659

Nokia 3

7:34:10

3028

Motorola Moto G5

6:32:50

3833

Kogan Agora 8 Plus

6:29:40

2597

That's not a great score by any stretch of the imagination. If you're a light phone user then a day might be feasible, but I wouldn't bank on it if you do want to buy the Agora 8 Plus to use for any extended periods of time.

Verdict

The Kogan Agora 8 Plus is very much a classic Kogan product, in that it's an OEM design with a touch of Kogan branding applied to it sold at a low asking price to tempt consumers.

That's a model that has worked superbly well for Kogan in the general technology space, and especially for televisions. In the modern mobile space, even in the budget category, there's a lot of competition that does it just as well, if not a little better.

Every budget phone has its compromises, and working out the inherent value is often a matter of balancing those compromises against your likely usage cases. The Agora 8 Plus has a decent sized 1080p display, an inbuilt fingerprint sensor for verification and dual SIM compatibility if that's important to you.

However it otherwise really fails to stand out, given it compromises in hitting those critical pain points of camera, general performance and overall battery life.

Alternatives

There are numerous very low-cost handsets out there from makers such as Huawei, Alcatel or Motorola, and they're worth considering depending on what's important to you.

If you want a better camera, consider Huawei's slightly more expensive (but not by much) Huawei Nova 2i handset.

If it's style you crave along with clean Android and a solid camera then Motorola's G5 is a good choice as well. If you're a fan of phones with guaranteed updates, then one of Nokia's cheaper phones such as the Nokia 3 or Nokia 5 is also worth considering.

Ask an Expert

Do not enter personal information (eg. surname, phone number, bank
details) as your question will be made public

finder.com.au is a financial comparison and information service, not a bank or
product provider

We cannot provide you with personal advice or recommendations

Your answer might already be waiting – check previous questions
below to see if yours has already been asked

Your Question

Subscribe to the Finder newsletter for the latest money tips and tricks

Notify me via email when there is a reply

Finder only provides general advice and factual information, so consider your own circumstances, read the PDS or seek advice before you decide to act on our content. By submitting a question, you're accepting our Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy.

Disclaimer - Hive Empire Pty Ltd (trading as finder.com.au, ABN: 18 118 785 121) provides factual information, general advice and services on financial products as a Corporate Authorised Representative (432664) of Advice Evolution Pty Ltd AFSL 342880. Please refer to our FSG - Financial Products. We also provide general advice on credit products under our own Credit Licence ACL 385509. Please refer to our Credit Guide for more information. We can also provide you with general advice and factual information on about a range of other products, services and providers. We are also a Corporate Authorised Representative of Countrywide Tolstrup Financial Services Group Pty Ltd. ABN 51 586 953 292 AFSL 244436 for the provision of general insurance products. Please refer to our FSG - General Insurance. We hope that the information and general advice we can provide will help you make a more informed decision. We are not owned by any Bank or Insurer and we are not a product issuer or a credit provider. Although we cover a wide range of products, providers and services we don't cover every product, provider or service available in the market so there may be other options available to you. We also don't recommend specific products, services or providers. If you decide to apply for a product or service through our website you will be dealing directly with the provider of that product or service and not with us. We endeavour to ensure that the information on this site is current and accurate but you should confirm any information with the product or service provider and read the information they can provide. If you are unsure you should get independent advice before you apply for any product or commit to any plan. (c) 2018.

Feedback

How likely would you be to recommend finder to a friend or colleague?

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

Very UnlikelyExtremely Likely

Required

Required

Required

Optional, only if you want us to follow up with you.

By submitting your email, you agree to the finder.com.au Privacy Policy

Thank you for your feedback.

Our goal is to create the best possible product, and your thoughts, ideas and suggestions play a major role in helping us identify opportunities to improve.

Important information about this website

finder.com.au is one of Australia's leading comparison websites. We compare from a wide set of major banks, insurers and product issuers.

finder.com.au has access to track details from the product issuers listed on our sites. Although we provide information on the products offered by a wide range of issuers, we don't cover every available product. You should consider whether the products featured on our site are appropriate for your needs and seek independent advice if you have any questions.

Products marked as 'Promoted' or "Advertisement" are prominently displayed either as a result of a commercial advertising arrangement or to highlight a particular product, provider or feature. Finder may receive remuneration from the Provider if you click on the related link, purchase or enquire about the product. Finder's decision to show a 'promoted' product is neither a recommendation that the product is appropriate for you nor an indication that the product is the best in its category. We encourage you to use the tools and information we provide to compare your options and find the best option for you.

The identification of a group of products, as 'Top' or 'Best' is a reflection of user preferences based on current website data. On a regular basis, analytics drive the creation of a list of popular products. Where these products are grouped, they appear in no particular order.

Where our site links to particular products or displays 'Go to site' buttons, we may receive a commission, referral fee or payment.

We try to take an open and transparent approach and provide a broad based comparison service. However, you should be aware that while we are an independently owned service, our comparison service does not include all providers or all products available in the market.

Some product issuers may provide products or offer services through multiple brands, associated companies or different labelling arrangements. This can make it difficult for consumers to compare alternatives or identify the companies behind the products. However, we aim to provide information to enable consumers to understand these issues.

Providing or obtaining an estimated insurance quote through us does not guarantee you can get the insurance. Acceptance by insurance companies is based on things like occupation, health and lifestyle. By providing you with the ability to apply for a credit card or loan we are not guaranteeing that your application will be approved. Your application for credit products is subject to the Provider's terms and conditions as well as their application and lending criteria.

Please read our website terms of use for more information about our services and our approach to privacy.